Everywhere you go…. One of the wonderful things about this time of the year is that it is steeped in all the essential elements that help stir and awaken the areas in our brains that have to do with memory. Songs. After my Mama was unable to carry on a conversation or even speak, she…
Caregiver awards
I recently came across a study that provides one of those sparks of joy and reason to celebrate while caregiving.
Happy. Happy? Holidays
According to the Hallmark and Norman Rockwell, the holiday season is a wonderful time filled with family, fun, and food. The reality is often quite different for those facing the challenges of caring for someone with dementia. Especially with the added burden of shopping, preparing, and all the extras that can go along with the…
More on: Neurobic exercises
In a previous post, ”Upside Down and Backwards”, I wrote about the benefits of Neurobic on brain function. According to SheKnows.com Neurobics is the science of brain exercise. Neurobic exercises in a nutshell are: Doing the ordinary things in new, surprising and unexpected ways. Break routines. Use your five physical senses as well as your emotional sense in…
“I’ll be me”
“I am a lineman for the county, and I drive the main road. Searchin’ in the sun for another overload. I hear you singin’ in the wire, I can hear you through the whine, and the Wichita lineman is still on the line” If you began singing along while reading those words, then perhaps you…
Smiling Man
Today however, was the best! When you spotted me, your whole face lit up and then finally, finally, finally – you waved!
What a doll
I couldn’t believe my eyes. While I was at the care-home where my Mama lives, I noticed one of the residents in the hallway holding a tiny baby. What were they thinking? I quickly looked around for the baby’s mother. No one seemed to be paying any attention to her. Taking a closer look at…
What if you don’t sing?
There is a growing amount of evidence that music is able to revive hidden memories hidden deep inside your loved one’s brain. But, suppose neither you nor your loved one was ever really a ‘music person’? Is it still possible to activate those missing memories? I was having this very conversation with a friend of mine…
Who are all these people?
Have you ever wondered what it felt like to experience dementia? Reunions are the perfect events for just that type of experience. Try gathering together with a large group of folks you are supposed to know because you all graduated from the same school 40 years earlier. I must confess that I spent a great deal of…
Upside Down and Backward
So there I was on the treadmill set for reverse and the wonderful memory of Mama and I walking back and forth in the pool came back to me. I remembered the statement someone had said about walking backward being good for memory and wondered if it was really true.